Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disabling condition characterized by severe fatigue lasting for more than six months and the presence of at least four out of eight minor criteria. Sleep disturbance presenting as unrefreshing or nonrestorative sleep is one of these criteria and is very common in CFS patients.

Biologically disturbed sleep is a known cause of fatigue and could play a role in the pathogenesis of CFS. However, the nature of presumed sleep impairment in CFS remains unclear. Whilst complaints of NRS persist over time, there is no demonstrable neurophysiological correlate to substantiate a basic deficit in sleep function in CFS.

Polysomnographic findings have not shown to be significantly different between subjects with CFS and normal controls. Discrepancies between subjectively poor and objectively normal sleep suggest a role for psychosocial factors negatively affecting perception of sleep quality.

Primary sleep disorders are often detected in patients who otherwise qualify for a CFS diagnosis. These disorders could contribute to the presence of daytime dysfunctioning.

There is currently insufficient evidence to indicate that treatment of primary sleep disorders sufficiently improves the fatigue associated with CFS. Therefore, primary sleep disorders may be a comorbid rather than an exclusionary condition with respect to CFS.

Firstly starting with the definition of CFS/ME as fatigue plus 4 out of 8 minor symptoms. We have come a long way since this was a reasonable definition and describing everything other than fatigue as minor symptoms is insulting. To many of us the fatigue is a minor symptom and other symptoms are more disabling day by day. 24/7 muscular and joint pain for instance is NOT minor.

Secondly is a logical fallacy. The presumption that disturbed sleep, if not a cause of CFS/ME, must therefore be an unrelated comorbid condition. Why cannot disturbed sleep be another symptom, not a cause of CFS/ME but a result of CFS/ME. Personally I have the comorbid condition congestive sleep apnea, but treatment of this condition using a CPAP machine made no difference to my disturbed sleep pattern whatsoever, or my fatigue!

The author needs to go back, read the Canadian Criteria, take time to understand that CFS/ME is an extremely complex condition, and then try research that would actually add to the sum of human knowledge, which this article and the 'research' behind it, most definitely do not.